Montana Among Worst for Producing Pro Athletes
Achieving the dream of making it to the professional level of any sport is an extremely tough journey, but it's special when you see someone from your state make it.
Action Network came out with a ranking of Players of the Future: Most Successful States and Colleges, and let's say Montana was almost dead last. Montana ranked 48th out of 50 states for producing professional athletes, and it's not that surprising. Montana has very rarely had more than maybe a handful of professional athletes at a time in certain sports.
So I was looking at this report, and by the looks of it they have some statistics right, but they also missed quite a few. For instance, Action Network says Montana only has two professional athletes at the moment, and they are in the NFL. They listed Alex Singleton, who is a current linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Travis Jonsen, who was on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers roster. The problem is they both went to Montana State both are from California. Where are the Montana athletes?
First off, they forgot the current NFL tight end for the Seattle Seahawks, Will Dissly, who is from right here in Bozeman and went to the University of Washington. There is also a current relief man for the Chicago Cubs, Codi Heuer, who is from Missoula, Montana. If you want to include former Montana State players, Keljin Blevins plays professional basketball for the Portland Trailblazers.
Montana has had a great history of players, whether they come from our fantastic universities or homegrown make it to the pro level. One of my favorites I used to draft in my fantasy football league was former Miami Dolphin/Buffalo Bills kicker Dan Carpenter who went to the University of Montana and grew up in Helena.
Plus, this will need to be updated next year. There is a great chance we could see multiple Bobcats and Grizzlies who hail from Montana in the NFL next year. Both teams have players that have been getting national recognition. Plus, wouldn't it be special to see players like Troy Andersen and Chase Benson get their names called during the NFL Draft.
Either way, even if you hail from our great state of Montana, you can make it to the pros.
For more details, check out Action Network.